# Making, Maintaining, Supply Chains and Logistics Studies and Concepts

**R-2A activity** of project MSL-01 — MATERIALS PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY  
**Program element:** 0602025E — Making, Maintaining, Supply CHAIN AND Logistics  
**Component:** Defense-Wide · **Budget Activity:** 2  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602025E/MSL-01/a7  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602025E/MSL-01

## Summary

This activity requests $13.7M in FY2027, 10% of project MSL-01, up 90% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** - Finalize experiment plan for autonomous control using nuclear physics predictions and advanced, combined neutronics models. - Develop air-breathing secondary fuel cells with far greater gravimetric energy density than current comparable energy solutions, while remaining safe, rechargeable, and easily manufactured. - Assess feasibility of re-purposing hot, high-density plasma used in fusion experiments for electric propulsion applications. - Develop laboratory autonomous control of Hall thruster spacecraft electric propulsion systems, tying state identification to qualification of data-driven digital twins. - Advance predictive modeling tools and experimental techniques to forecast the degradation mechanisms and lifespan of new infrastructure materials. - Initiate development of tabletop quantum simulators for data-informed predictive modeling and aeronautical design. - Perform proof-of-concept demonstrations of quantum sensor networks with beyond state-of-the-art spatiotemporal resolution for extreme environments. - Perform initial proof-of-concept demonstrations of the core mechanisms for levitated Inertial Measurement Unit. - Perform initial proof-of-concept demonstrations of radio-frequency (RF) systems capable of identifying signals of interest, rapidly tuning to their carrier frequency, and amplifying their message by dynamically adjusting the receiver s signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). - Integrate computational and hardware capabilities into complete capability for accelerating timelines of making and manufacturing novel designs of military systems.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 increase reflects studies and concepts initiations including, but not limited to, applied research in development and manufacturability of advanced fuel cells and novel spacecraft propulsion systems, and exploration of metamaterials and fabrication methods for advanced RF systems.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Advancing nuclear reactor physics models in order to enhance reactor control capabilities and safer operations with predictive methods. - Assess potential for autonomous control of Hall thruster spacecraft electric propulsion systems by validating sensor optimization using manifold estimation to robustly identify plasma dynamics. - Investigate quantum sensor networks with enhanced sensitivity arising from an interplay between quantum many-body interactions and noise-engineering techniques. - Initiate development of gravity defying levitated Inertial Measurement Units. - Explore multifunctional materials, new fabrication methods, and design techniques for radio-frequency systems capable of identifying signals of interest, rapidly tuning to their carrier frequency, and amplifying their message by dynamically adjusting the receiver's signal-to-noise-ratio. - Select critical hardware assemblies for production analysis in order to drastically shrink the time from developing a new prototype to manufacturing it at mass scale.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 7.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 13.7 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project MSL-01

- [Functional Materials and Devices](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602025E/MSL-01/a0) — FY2027 41.2
- [Materials for Extreme Environments](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602025E/MSL-01/a1) — FY2027 20.1
- [Burn n' Go](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602025E/MSL-01/a2) — FY2027 18.7
- [Carbon Crunch](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602025E/MSL-01/a3) — FY2027 16.2
- [Chemical Processing for Force Protection](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602025E/MSL-01/a4) — FY2027 12.0
- [Grainy Day](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602025E/MSL-01/a5) — FY2027 10.5
- Reconfigurable Systems — FY2027 0.9

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0602025E project MSL-01 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*